October 2, 1982

Prime Minister Menachem Begin, in a letter made public today by the Israeli Embassy, said that "the whole campaign over the last 10 days" to blame Israel for the massacre of Palestinians in West Beirut was "unbelievable, fantastic and totally despicable." In the letter Senator Alan Cranston, Democrat at California, Mr. Begin said that hours after the killing of Lebanon's President-elect, Bashir Gemayel, he conferred with his colleagues and expressed concern about he possibility of "revenge" against the Palestinians. "I uttered the following words: 'Take over as soon as possible the major junctions between the two parts of Beirut to prevent a revenge on the Moslem population by the Christians,'" Mr. Begin said in the letter, which was dated Sept. 29. "This was the deciding aim of our forces entering West Beirut early the following morning," Mr. Begin said. The next day, Lebanese Christian militiamen were allowed into the refugee camps, and the massacre began almost immediately.

Helmut Kohl, leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Party, was elected the sixth Chancellor of West Germany today, replacing Helmut Schmidt after a noconfidence vote in Parliament. After a debate that took an unexpectedly passionate turn, Mr. Kohl was chosen Chancellor with a seven-cote margin on a procedure known as a constructive no-confidence motion, which simultaneously toppled Mr. Schmidt and designated his successor. It was the first time in the 33-year history of the Federal Republic that a Chancellor had been removed by Parliament. Reagan Administration officials expressed satisfaction that West Germany would now have a Government "more in tune with the Reagan philosophy" but voiced uneasiness that West German politics might become polarized. Page 4.

The Teheran radio said many people were killed and hundreds injured when a bomb exploded in Teheran, Reuters reported. Page 3. By DREW MIDDLETON Iranian troops opened a new offensive Thursday night along the Iranian-Iraqi border about 100 miles northeast of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. Last night Iraqi forces were holding their ground just inside Iran and lashed back with counterattacks, according to American intelligence sources.

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers throughout the country yesterday to stop using Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules until investigators could trace the source of cyanide-tainted capsules that have killed seven persons in the Chicago area since Wednesday. The latest apparent victim, a 35-year-old flight attendant, was found dead in her Chicago apartment late last night. All seven were residents of the Chicago area. A second batch of cyanide-contaminated Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules was found in the Chicago area yesterday and the manufacturer, the McNeil Consumer Products division of Johnson & Johnson, expanded its recall to include more than 264,000 bottles of 50 capsules each. The recall, one of the largest ever ordered in the phamaceutical industry, involved all bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules from throughout the nation with the lot numbers MC2880 and 1910MD, which were linked to the deaths, and all bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules of any lot number from throughout the Chicago area.

The House of Representatives today decisively defeated a proposed constitutional amendment mandating a balanced Federal budget. The vote was 236 to 187 in favor of the proposal, but that fell 46 votes short of the two-thirds necessary to approve an amendment for consideration by the states. Transcript of news session, page 13. Within minutes of the vote, President Reagan expressed his reaction "of deep, burning anger" and urged voters to register their own reaction in the Nov. 2 Congressional elections against what he termed the Democratic leadership's "stonewalling" and "budget-busting."